The New Greed
by Ignatuis Argetlam
Summary: The Homunculi look for a new ally after Greed is killed, coincidentally at the same time the Elric's cousin is in town! Who will be the new homunculus? Will the Elric's be able to protect their defenceless family member? How will this change the course of the anime? Based off original series, takes place right after Greed's death.
1. Chapter 1

Winry let out a sigh of relief as she sat down on the cushioned train chair. She loved trains, thousands of pounds of freight and people sped along with an intricate system of- where was she again?

"_Last call, Resembool to Rush Valley_." A balding train worker announced in a gruff voice. She heard some commotion as someone quickly boarded the train.

"Ticket..." The worker asked, but the rest of the question was lost in the noise of the starting train.

"Here."

"Ahh... here... the... _Elric?_" She caught several words, but the last one made her shoot up.

"Yes..." the new passenger said before she could hear his footsteps down the train, indicating the conversation was ended. The shuffled noise got louder and louder, until it stopped, she looked to find him standing outside her booth.

"Is this seat taken?" he asked with a smile. He had short brown hair, and a surprisingly convincing smile. Winry quickly shook herself out of the short daze and answered with a hurried, "of course not."

He lifted his luggage to place it on the upper rack. The way he was standing only made the nametag visible for a split second, but that was all she needed to read it twice, just to be sure. It read in neat handwriting,

_Mason Elric_

Edward Elric's automail fingers delicately closed around the small blue token, moving it forward three spaces on the game board before setting it down. The sound of metal scraping against metal was heard as his brother, Alphonse, rested his metal head on a propped arm. They both sat on chairs, looming over a small side table which held their game.

His brother's empty gauntlet closed around a red game piece and set it in front of his brother's last move.

"Flip em'."Edward stated simply as he flipped his piece over to reveal its role in the game.

"King!? Are you kidding me!?" Edward yelled out in frustration. If suits of armour could look smug, then Alphonse was defiantly gloating. His brother took Edward's queen and added it to the large pile of "dead" pieces on his side of the board.

"I quit." Ed grumbled and got up, kicking over his chair on the way out of the room.

"Brother!" Alphonse chuckled as he got up. "Don't be a baby!"

"I'm not a baby!" He said back defensively.

"Of course not." Al sighed as he got up and began to clean up the game.

Edward stomped through their small inn room and plunked himself down on the table. He barely got the chance to think before there was a sharp knock on the door.

He flung open the door, seeing only a glimpse of blonde hair before whatever-it-was sped past him.

"Winry?" Edward raised an eyebrow at winery, who was fidgeting with his automail arm.

"You've been fighting again, haven't you Ed?" Winry accused as she squinted an eye and held her cheek to the cold metal, checking for who knows what.

"It's never just hello with you, isn't it Winry?" Alphonse sighed; she whirled Ed around and checked on his metal leg.

"Can we at least do this on the couch? (Giggity)" Edward pleaded as he tried to limp towards the living room, but Winry grabbed him by the ankle and held him back.

"Theres no time, you're in desperate need of repairs." Winry explained as she began to test the tightness of several screws.

"It looks fine to me." Edward stopped for a moment, before wiggling free and making a desperate escape to freedom. Winry football tackled him and held him down by the arms.

"Hold still, I have to fix you up nice before he comes." Winry resumed her examination of Edward while Alphonse awkwardly stood nearby.

"Before who comes!?" Edward demanded, wiggling out from under Winry and hiding behind Alphonse.

"Me, I would presume." Answered the figure standing in the open doorway, he smirked and leaned against the doorframe.

"Mason!" Alphonse screamed, he ran towards the doorway to greet him. Edward shook with utter fear as Winry now advanced upon him, wrench and screwdriver in hand.

"I thought we would never see you again!" Alphonse stated as he lifted him off the ground in a hug. A small cloud of dust formed around the two other people as they fought, limbs and automail constantly flailing out.

"Actually I'm surprised Al recognized you, you sure have changed." Edward stuck his head out for a moment before a hand pulled it back into the fray by the ponytail.

"Last time I saw you guys must have been the funeral." Mason muttered with a hint of sadness, knowing better than to speak of it with anything but grief. Winry had Edward in a chokehold, but she reluctantly let him go, he stood and rubbed his human foot against the floor awkwardly.

"Look at you! You must be six feet tall!" Alphonse broke the silence.

"That not that tall," Mason replied modestly. "You should see my-"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THAT'S NOT TALL?!" Edward stood up to his full height and started screaming. "THAT'S HUGE! US NORMAL PEOPLE ARE ONLY-"

"Well I may be a giant to you Ed, but I'm only 5' 10"." Mason smirked, intentionally hitting one of Ed's emotional nerves.

"That's it! You little..." Edward got off into more descriptive language as Alphonse held him by the arms, keeping him from charging Mason.

"Well Ed you've changed as much as you have grown, and that isn't much." Mason chuckled as he hung up his coat and invited himself in. He lowered himself on the couch as Edward pulled out of Alphonse's restraints, insisting he had calmed down.

"What brings you to Rush Valley?" Edward asked as he pulled himself a chair.

"Automail of course!" Hearts replaced Winry's eyes as she nearly fainted thinking of all the engineering in the city.

"We all know that Winry..." Edward sighed. "I was asking Mason."

"Oh!" Winry recovered, blushing.

"You guys of course! I haven't seen you in ages." Mason sat down beside Edward.

"You couldn't even send your dear cousin a letter? Not a single note?" Mason said with a touch of disappointment, the Elric brothers he knew would never do that.

"We're sorry Mason, we really are. We've just been so busy..." Alphonse trailed off; knowing excuses wouldn't help him much.

"Becoming dogs of the military." Mason finished with a heavy dose of disappointment. Anger flared across Ed's face but Mason raised a hand to stop him.

"I'm not here to judge you, I'm sure you have your reasons. I only have one question for you." Mason smiled eagerly as he set his hands on the table, preparing himself.

"Would you tell me everything that happened since you left Resembool?"

The brothers told him everything. Every last bit, even the parts they didn't want to be made public. Some parts, much to her disappointment, even Winry hadn't heard. The entire tale had become quite lengthy; it went on for a good hour before Winry got everyone some tea, calling for a short break. After only a small sip, they eagerly continued their tale. Edward talked mostly, but he was too excited and talked too fast, leaving out many details. Alphonse had to constantly interrupt to correct him or add in information.

"Our boss, that Mustang guy, sent us here on a small lead about the philosopher's stone. It turns out we looked over something last time, and there's a former Redstone miner here. He reported many pounds of the mine's storage being stolen, and we were sent to investigate."

"Redstone? Isn't that what those things-"

"Homunculi." Alphonse answered.

"Homunculi" Mason added in. "Eat?"

"When a homunculus is created, it needs to eat Redstone or it will quickly die. It's a material that amplifies alchemy." Edward explained. Mason listened intently, sketching a transmutation circle into the wooden table with his fingernail. Coming from Trisha's side of the family, he had no trace of the skill known as alchemy. He was still extremely interested in it, almost an alchemy fanatic. He had asked Edward to teach him before, but his blonde cousin had always insisted you had to be born with "it". Whatever "it" was, Mason wanted it, badly.

Whenever he visited the Elric brothers, he had always been so interested in it, but also so jealous. Here he was, a simple farm boy, talking to two boys that were practically gods. Nevertheless, they both talked to him as a complete equal, even though he is practically useless compared to them. Mason smirked; those were the Elric's he knew.

A fluttering sound interrupted their conversation, they all watched as a crow flew away from the open window and down an alley. Everyone looked away, but Mason stared for a second longer, catching a faint blue glow form the alley. He squinted and stood up, but it soon disappeared.

"Something wrong?" Winry asked, speaking for the first time in awhile.

"Nothing. Just, thought I saw something." Mason sat down and began to listen to Winry chatter about her plans for tomorrow.

"You can stay as long as you want with us Mason; I think we'd appreciate a new face around here." Edward replied glumly as he listened to Winry recite the basics of Automail for about the seventh time. Edward had said it half-heartedly, but Mason didn't catch that, taking it as a full invitation.

"On second thought, I'll go make your bed. Anything but listening to this." Edward grumbled as he got up. Mason sighed, he didn't have a place to say and he had dreaded the awkward moment where he was going to have to ask his cousins, but he was glad they had avoided it.

"Goodnight Winry!" Edward yelled from his bedroom. She had kept Mason up talking about Automail and he was too polite to walk away.

"Goodnight Ed!" She called back, not catching his meaning. She returned to the subject of the proper production and material of thumb joints on automail.

"And?" A figure purred from an alleyway, directing it to the bird that had landed on the boxes next to her. It molded and grew into a human form.

"The fools don't even see it coming." The former bird returned with a grin.

"Excellent." The figure replied smugly.

"Get this, there's another Elric!" The second figure added to its report.

"Oh?"

"I was there to late to hear anything important. Butterball over here made me catch that couple for him." The second figure gestured with his thumb towards a third, plump figure.

"They tastes good!" Was his simple reply.

"Anyway, he's an alchemist. I saw him drawing circles like he was filling in a coloring book. I don't know their relation, but he doesn't look like the brothers."

"Dammit." The curse was out of place in the first figure's usual soft, soothing tone. "That's all we need know, another Elric buzzing in our faces."

"Will we still-"the second figure started, but was cut off.

"Of course we will. Another amateur won't throw a wrench in our plans. In fact, I think he will fit in them just fine." The figure's thin black lips curled into a smile.

"Wrath?" She called out. A small boy jumped down from a nearby rooftop where he was listening.

"Yes Lust?" Wrath answered dutifully.

"Change of plans, go with Envy. He will explain it all to you."


	2. Chapter 2

Mason gave up on the clutches of sleep long ago. Some would call him insomniac, but he just thought of himself as a night owl. He stared across the living room and out the window. The sky tonight was filled with more stars then he had ever seen before, there seemed to be more white then black.

He stretched his limbs and settled back on the couch. He wore a black muscle shirt and grey sweats, leaving his feet bare. He thought back to last night. It had been so good to see his cousins again, it was the first time in a while that he felt truly joyful.

He looked out the window once more and watched the stars twinkle, and flicker. He watched as the some of the stars closest to the horizon seemed to blink. He tracked these movements, and found they were blinking in a row. A star would go out four times before staying alit; each star would go through this, the order occurring from right to left. Almost if...

He squinted and tried to glimpse figures through the blackness. He thought he saw a flailing arm in front of a star, but it was too quick to figure out. He reached into his suitcase and pulled out a small handgun. He turned the safety on and tucked it under his pillow, looking the other way.

_Twinkling stars and I'm pulling out my gun, what has gotten into me? I'm with the Fullmetal Alchemist for equivalency's sake._

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He tried to mediate. He imagined every single breath, deep and soft. His heartbeat was thumping slower, and slower. His breathing was quiet now. His mind slowly blackened into a deep-

_Crash!_

The sound was unmistakable, breaking glass. As if a million vases had been dropped at the same time. It had to be the window.

His eyes fluttered open and he scanned the room. It was pure blackness; all of the stars had suddenly disappeared out of the sky.

He could definelty hear something, careful footsteps across the broken glass. One of the undetermined amount of intruders was rather uncoordinated. He could easily track where he was in the room.

"Stop moving butterball." He heard a male mutter softly. He could hear the noises slowly getting louder, approaching him. He gripped the metal handle of the gun and slowly pushed the safety off, emitting a barely audible _click_.

A hand slowly grasped his shoulder, he heard the person whisper.

"Hey there, _Elric._" He spat the final word like it was the greatest disgrace, and that sent him off the edge. He flung his feet off of the couch and onto the floor, pushing against the furniture to bring his gun up and smack the intruder across about where his face would be. He could see his outline in the flickering light only found on the broken glass. He raised his gun and pointed it at the thing.

"What the hell do you want!?" He screamed, secretly trying to wake up someone, anyone. The knocked down figure smirked as he changed his appearance and looked up.

"Trying to wake up the whole neighborhood?" The familiar face instantly registered in Mason's mind, every ounce of his willpower was used not to drop down right there and burst into tears.

"A-Au-A-Aus-t-tin?" a single tear fell down his face and made a soft noise against the broken glass.

"Why are you pointing a gun at me Mason?" The fake Austin called out, sounding very hurt. Mason unintentionally lowered the gun slightly. He was still in shock from seeing the face he hadn't seen for eleven months and twenty one days. It was the face of his best friend, who he watched get hit by a train.

"No! You're not real! I saw you die!" Mason reassured himself and raised the gun to its original position. He saw three other figures in the darkness in the room, but they weren't moving as far as he could see.

"Have you forgotten me already?" Austin stood up and the gun followed him. The lights suddenly flickered on, illuminating the room. Mason saw a rather fat short man, a small boy, and a pretty woman standing near the window, as well as Edward in his room's doorway. Edward stood there, battle ready. He already had his arm in sword-form and was sketching a small alchemy circle in the wall.

"Shoot it Mason! It's not Austin! It's going to kill you!" Edward reached to clap his hands on the circle but the fat man moved like lightning, tackling him.

"Why didn't you save me Mason?" Austin stepped towards Mason, not caring about the firearm. "You sat there and let me die, you killed me! You-"

"NO!" Mason demanded and pulled the trigger.

Austin moved like lightning, dodging left and pinning Mason to the wall by the neck.

"Now that wasn't very nice!" Austin commented, but not in his voice. Edward threw the fat man off of him and started to clap his hands together, but the woman simply raised a pointed finger towards Mason and he stopped.

"Now can't we be a little more civilized?" She asked. Every word sounded so convincing and alluring, even Edward had to keep his focus in check. She strutted over to Mason and studied him.

"Poor boy." She stuck out her bottom lip and spoke in an innocent tone. "He doesn't even know what's going on."

"Should we introduce ourselves?" The young boy asked in his strange tone. He sounded strange, like how Mason would imagine an imp would talk.

"I think that would be a good idea Wrath; we are human after all." She smirked at Edward, intentionally making a mistake, but the alchemist didn't say a word. He did slowly trace a new transmutation circle on the wall behind him, out of everyone's attention.

"I'm Lust, that's Wrath, The fat one is Gluttony-"

"Hey!" He called out defensively.

"Oh shut it butterball!" Austin silenced him.

"And you've met Envy. We are your new friends." Mason wasn't sure what this "Lust" had planned, but the last sentenced troubled him. Envy did have mercy on him and changed out of Austin's form.

"What do you want!?" Edward demanded as he finished his circle. He placed his hand on it, but he didn't activate it, yet.

"You see, I have something in mind. Because of the inconvenience you caused us by killing Greed-"

"Inconvenience! You should be thanking me!" Edward countered. Greed and the other homunculus were enemies, Mason recalled.

"He was a powerful homunculus nevertheless, and now we find ourselves one member short." Ed's face fell as he realized what she had in mind; she smirked in his sudden change in emotion.

"We both know a more powerful alchemist makes a more powerful Homunculus, so I grant you a choice. Who is to die? You? Or the other Elric." Her finger slowly lengthened and landed on Mason's forehead. He struggled under the sharp tip nearly drawing blood, but Envy held him tight.

As Lust glowered over him, dagger-nails poised, a single thought rang through his mind. A short saying he didn't understand at the time it had first found his ears, but he would soon learn the full meaning of.

_**You either die a hero, or live long enough to watch yourself become a villain.**_

Edward's mind raced. Should he take his place? Non-emotionally he shouldn't. He was a powerful alchemist and he had useful knowledge against these creatures that would go to waste. The world needed him, while Mason was just a civilian. But, he wouldn't be able to ever forgive himself if he caused the death of one of his best friends since childhood. As his mind raced, Wrath bent down and slowly drew a circle.

"Too late." Lust said to Edward's horror. Mason's felt as if his forehead was being ripped in two for a split second before the pain ended, Lust's finger had reached the back of his skull. He slumped forward as life left him, the last noises he heard being the cries of Edward.

"Bring out our guest Wrath." Lust instructed as she retreated her finger and wiped it on her revealing black dress. Wrath reached into a bag Gluttony carried and pulled out a bound homeless man, recognizable by his ragged clothes.

"NO!" Edward rushed forward but Wrath placed the man on top of his circle and activated it. The room was filled with a blinding light. It reached the man, and slowly absorbed him.

Mason's body suddenly jolted to life. His limbs flailed as it began to experience terrible spasms.

"What have you done!?" Edward screamed, clapping his hands together and then slamming tem against the wooden wall. Several spikes shot out, aimed towards the homunculi. Butterball was too slow and he got it in the forehead, knocking him out the second-floor window.

Edward pounced at Wrath, whipping his sword-arm at the small boy. He smiled, stepping back and dodging each swipe before slamming a fist into the blonde boy's stomach.

"And he's back! Equivalent exchange, gotta love it." Envy said and let out a terrible laugh. Edward fell to a knee and groaned. He had just caused Mason to die. Edward couldn't do anything as they grabbed his cousin and bolted off, just as quickly as they had come.

Mason vaguely remembered being carried. His body jolted weaker now, but he still couldn't control his limbs. He felt every gust of wind, every jump from roof to roof, every step of whoever carried him. From what he knew, either Wrath or Envy, just because of the hands holding him and the ease of the strides.

In the small corner of his mind that could still think consciously, he kept thinking one word.

_Why?_

Why him? Why had these villains taken him? Was it because he was close to the Elric's? From what Edward told him-

Wait, Edward? Homunculus weren't suppose to have memories, why was he-

_Oof._

A rather large landing of a jump rocked his whole body and knocked the breath out of him.

Apparently that was a jump from the roof to the ground, because there was only shuffled feet from now on, no jumping. He heard a door creak, but he could hardly comprehend anything now. He was weak, very weak.

Suddenly there was no more moving, he was still. Was he lying down? No, he was sitting. There was a certain scent, something strong, pungent.

"Eat it." He opened his eyes lazily, as if he was asleep, and saw someone offering him a red material.

_Redstone._

He knew that it was highly poisonous, so he closed his mouth and turned away. A hand pinched his nose, but he had to hold his breath, he couldn't eat that. He flailed his arms against his attacker, but I was like hitting a rock with a feather he was so weak.

He gasped for a breath quickly, but he wasn't fast enough and the chemical was thrust into his mouth. It scared him when it was put in his mouth, so he involuntary swallowed it down.

His eyes shot open. The small bit of Redstone seemed to have all of the effects of an energy drink happening instantly.

He saw Wrath bend down towards him with a smirk.

"Isn't so bad once you try it, huh?" Mason looked down for a moment, before nodding. Mason searched for a plan of action. Play dumb? Come out and attack them instantly? His mind told him to play stupid, they wouldn't expect any memories from him and he really wanted to know their motives. He hated risking his life for curiosity but he just _had_ to know.

"Where am I?" He croaked, finding his throat raspy.

"You'll learn that soon enough, just have some more." Wrath handed him another handful. He looked at them in his hand. He could already feel the first ones wearing off; he needed energy if he wanted to escape. He popped them into his mouth and swallowed them down without chewing them. They were so... addicting! His mouth seemed empty without them, he thirsted for them. He _needed_ them.

"Try and remember now, Elric." Lust gloated. He stopped everything and looked up slowly. "Don't think we didn't know; your act wasn't very good anyway." Mason desperately tried to spit out the Redstone, but he had already swallowed it.

"It's too late now. Tell me, what's your name?" Lust smirked with satisfaction. What was his name? Of course it was... he reached for any memory of it, but it was gone. He felt completely robbed of his identity; he didn't even know that little bit about himself. He began to panic and hyperventilate. He grasped the legs of the chair he sat in as if he would float away if he didn't.

He knew he had memories at one point, but he didn't have any trace of them. Was he a boy? Well that was a little more... physical, than memory. He desperately reached for his head.

He had hair. He could feel it between his fingers. With a wince he pulled out several. Brown, short. He shoved his feet into view. Five short toes, trimmed nails. He desperately rediscovered his body, desperately grabbing onto the new memories.

Five fingers, ears, he had all of his teeth, long legs, pale skin- he never stopped, it must have been quite the site.

"Should I for something? He's freaking out." Wrath whispered to Envy.

"Leave him be, he just needs a second." Envy smirked at their success; he had no memory of his past life at this point. He must be pretty freaked out, Envy took pity on him and handed him a small mirror.

He snatched it and desperately looked at his own reflection. Blue eyes, short eyelashes, thin eyebrows, defined features, freckles speckled across his nose. The mirror helped him calm down; he slowly calmed his breathing and heartbeat, finally setting the mirror beside him.

"What is my name?" He asked finally. Envy and Wrath looked at each other. Lust and Gluttony had left, so it was their choice. Were they naming him to replace Greed? Was he keeping his old name?

"Greed. Your name is Greed." Envy decided. "Come with me, I'll show you around." Envy held out his hand. The new Greed looked at it, but took it hesitantly.

"What's your name?" Greed-Mason asked. Envy introduced everyone to him for the second time.

"Look who is up." Lust strutted over to them from another room, followed by a plodding Gluttony.

"Hello Lust, hello Gluttony. My name is Greed." Mason stood up a little higher, proud to have a name.

"Hello, _Greed_." Lust answered, casting a side glance at the two boys. She was mad that they had made a decision, although slight, without her permission.

"I think you need to blow off some steam, wanna go for a run?" Envy offered, wanting to get away from Lust. Mason shook his head.

"I'm not fast, I can't keep up." Mason answered. It seemed that with the loss of his memory, he had also lost the grammar lessons he received in school.

"Trust me, just come along." Envy morphed into a lean Olympic-looking runner and jogged out of the house. Mason looked pleadingly towards Lust, asking for permission. Since they were the first thing he saw in memory and because they were helping teach him, he saw them as his parents or atleast guardians.

"Run along." Lust said, sounding more like an order. Mason happily bounded out of the house and spotted Envy. He started to jog, slowly catching up. In the back of his mind he knew his limits. He knew where his limbs would start to get sore, where he would start breathing too hard to keep up, and where his exact speed limit was.

"Run." Envy said simply.

"What?" Mason asked stupidly.

"Run Greed. I dare you to keep up with me, run as fast as you can." Envy smirked and shot off into the distance.

Mason looked at his own feet in disbelief. Okay... running. One foot in front of the other, push off, big step, push off, he continued to physically instruct himself on running. He watched as Envy slowly got farther and farther into the distance.

_Alright, time to run as fast as I can._ Mason told himself and picked up speed. He started to run faster, knowing he would slowly feel his limbs strain, but there was no strain. He tried to run a little faster, and it came easily. There was no fatigue, as if he had just taken a good nap and was full of energy.

He looked beside him and was surprised to find buildings flying by him in the night. He recognized where his usual absolute limit would be, and he sped right by it, not a single hint of fatigue, he breathed as easily as if he was walking.

He was free! Mason let out whoop and frog jump over a bench lengthways. Landing and increasing his speed even more. He had no limits, nothing could hold him back! The feeling was utterly exhilarating, he felt a rush of adrenaline at the pure magnitude of the excitement he was feeling.

His old mortal limits shot by him like the buildings he sped by, this was the definition of freedom! He was now running at an unimaginable pace as easily as lifting a finger. He caught up to Envy and he still hadn't broken a sweat.

"Not bad Greed, but try this!" Envy sped up, if that was even possible, and slowly got a lead on Mason. He reached a T in the road; he suddenly jumped up, turned himself sideways and latched onto a metal sign. He used his momentum to swing 90° and threw himself onto the right street. Mason watched too long and didn't stop running, so he soon found himself confronted with a brick wall. In a motion he had never seen, let alone performed, jumped forward and placed a foot on the wall and pushed down, as if walking sideways. He did this several times in quick succession before grabbing onto the edge of the roof and pulling himself onto it.

He stood up on top of the roof and spread his arms. The wind whipped around him, making his clothing catch in it like a waving flag. He tilted his head back and whooped loudly again. It was like he was drunk on life, the world was his playground.

He bent his knees and pushed off suddenly, doing a quick front flip and landing in the same spot. He had never been able to do that before, not even on a trampoline.

"Not bad! I think we need to go back though, Lust will be expecting us." Envy called out. Mason slowly crawled down the gutter attached to the house before his feet landed on the concrete. He suddenly realized he didn't have shoes. He had run at unthinkable speeds... without socks on? He turned his feet over, they seemed perfectly fine.

"C'mon Greed! Get going!" Envy urged, they raced each other back to the mansion that served as their current home. They got there almost quicker than if they would have drove, inviting themselves in. Even though it was dark out, everyone was wide awake.

_I like being awake at night! _Mason told himself, although he didn't know how he knew that.

He still had millions of questions flying through his mind, each trying to find a way out. Where was he? How did he suddenly end up here? Why couldn't he remember anything? What were these people's goals? Was he staying with them? Were these people his family?

Lust was looking over a map of something on the table, Wrath had a huge piece of ham and was running around the house laughing his head off, chased by Gluttony.

"Would you shut up?" Lust demanded. Wrath stopped and bowed his head.

"Sorry Lu-"He tried to apologize, but Gluttony tackled him and was reaching for the ham.

"Greed, catch!" He threw it to Mason quickly, who snatched it out of the air. He held it in his hands, not knowing what to do. Gluttony charged at him, but he quickly threw it beside him to Envy, who passed it to Wrath. They quickly began a game, crossed between Hot Ham and Gluttony in the Middle.

"Ugh, kill me again." Lust held her head in her hands, utterly exhausted.

"Envy, are you my friend?" Mason pondered, he held the ham for a second too long and Gluttony scored a chunk out of it.

"What do you mean?" He caught the meat and passed it to Wrath.

"I don't know, just, are you my friend? Is Wrath my friend?" He asked, saying the sentences similar to a young child.

"Of course Greed. We are your family; we live together, work together and play together." Lust answered for him formally.

"I live here?" Mason released an eyebrow inquisitively.

"You'll always live with us, but we might move around." Wrath answered. He wasn't paying attention and Envy hurled the meat at his face, knocking him down. Wrath quickly molded his body into wood and hid the meat into the wooden boards.

"Lust! Their being mean!" Gluttony complained.

"You've had your fun, give Gluttony his snack." Lust ordered, sounding very much like their mother. Wrath muttered something illegible and gave the meat to Gluttony, who happily tore into it.

"What did Wrath do?" Mason asked eagerly.

"We all can do something... special." Wrath thought for a moment before deciding on a word. "I can do that, Envy can shape shift-"

"What can I do?" He asked eagerly.

"We will find out." Wrath tried to answer with excitement, but Mason was still disappointed.

Lust sighed, she hoped they didnt have to re-teach the world to Greed. Well that was to be expected, he lost his memory. And he was already being very loyal to them, especially her.

"I think he has a crush on me." Lust said to herself, followed by a short chuckle. She couldn't get that off her mind though. The others weren't that, well, stupid when they became homunculi. He was dumb, to dumb. Lust frowned.

No, that was impossible. He couldn't be faking. She sighed in frustration and leaned back. All she knew was that it was going to be a long night.

"They are probably torturing him right now, or worse." Edward commented, looking up at the sky.

"It not your fault, you know that right?" Winry confirmed, snuggling beside Edward in the cold night air.

"Of course it was. I froze up and watched them kill him and..." he couldn't bring himself to say it.

"Edward..." she began, but he wouldn't listen. Ed raised his metal fist to the sky, his sleeve falling down to reveal its metal composition.

"I swear, on the Elric name, I will find Mason. And I will save him."


	3. Chapter 3

Much to Lust and the rest of the homunculi's relief, Mason quickly moved past his loss of memory. With the help some good doses of Redstone. He quickly recovered his _knowledge_, but not his _memory_. He knew what a cow was. He knew that they gave milk, were black and white, were ungulates and went moo. He never remembered visiting a farm, seeing a cow, or even drinking milk. He had grown particularly close to Wrath, who had taken it upon himself to personally train the new Greed.

They were currently in the library of the large mansion they had occupied. The past owners currently residing inside Gluttony.

Wrath had instructed Mason to read a book end to end, and now he was sneaking up behind him while he was occupied. It was time to test his training.

"Hey Wrath." Mason picked him out before he could sneak up on him. Wrath still had some of the element of surprise, as well as several other elements at his disposal.

Wrath swung his leg and kicked the chair out from under Mason, causing him to land on his arse on the hardwood floor.

"So that how it's going to be..." Mason smirked and got up, spotting Wrath getting into a ready stance. He bounded at him and brought his right fist forward, but Wrath caught it as if it was thrown by a baby. He tried to pull it back, but Wrath's grip was too strong.

He jumped off of the floor and firmly pressed both legs against Wrath's shoulders. He straitened his knees and pressed off and jumped back, knocking Wrath back and sending him into a back flip before landing.

Wrath's foot came out of nowhere; Mason ducked his head to the left. The floor behind him suddenly grew an arm, which shot towards him from behind. It connected with his lower back, seconds before Wrath's foot hit him in the collarbone. Both of the punches hitting him the way they did sent him spinning backwards.

Mason sent a foot out, catching it on the floor and skidding him to a halt. Wrath gave him no time to recover as he ran at him, sending out limbs in an untrackable rate. Mason could do nothing but back away, hoping to avoid them. He quickly shot up his arms in an X and grunted as Wrath's foot met it in the middle. Wrath sped up and soon Mason couldn't keep up. For every caught punch he caught one in the chin. Every blocked kick meant a kick in the gut.

Wrath kicked at his mid-section, but Mason had bided his time and was ready. He grabbed the kick and pulled him forward, towards him. While Wrath was still surprised, he put both of his hands together and slammed it down on Wrath's chest, sending him into the floor.

When the dust settled, Wrath was laughing like a madman in the middle of a pile of broken floorboards.

"Not bad! Hyuk hyuk hyuk!" Wraths words were lost to Mason; he stared simply at his own hands. How had he done that? He literally had sent Wrath through the floor.

"You had better get ready, we will be leaving soon." Wrath warned as he got up out of the rubble.

"Where can I find better clothes?" Mason asked. He looked down; he was still wearing sweats and a muscle shirt. Wrath walked up to him, put his hand on his chest and pressed on it momentarily, making his body glow. He backed away and he was wearing different clothes.

It was all black, and made of the same material as everyone else's clothes. He wore the same cut-off muscle shirt as Wrath and Envy, but instead of a short skirt he wore long, silky pants. He also had the black heel wraps around his feet. He had never noticed it before, but there was a small red mark peeking out from under his shirt.

He pulled it back and bent his neck to spot the red tattoo on his right shoulder blade. It looked like a dragon eating its own tail, and inside the circle it made was some sort of star.

"That's our symbol; it shows your one of us." Wrath explained, making Mason smile eagerly. Wrath openly saying that he had been accepted into "them" was greatly satisfying for him. The Redstones had morphed his point of view, and now he wanted to do nothing more than make them happy.

"We had better get going, Greed." Wrath caught sight of the clock on the wall.

"Let's go silence a miner." Mason grinned evilly as they walked out of the building.

They took to the rooftops instantly; it was both of their preferred method of travel. Mason leapt over a crack between roofs, looking down into the dirty alley that was visible for a split second. He landed on a small rooftop until before hopping down and continuing his trek.

He continued to push himself, looking for his absent physical strain, but just like his first run, it wasn't there. He felt the exact same feeling of adrenaline and exhilaration as he always did.

"The last house of the line." Wrath said evenly, also showing no signs of exhaustion. Mason silently hopped off the roof towards the ratty-looking house. He bent his knees into a squat as he landed, before slowly stalking towards the door in the same position. Wrath passed by him and checked inside the doorway, he then looked back and motioned him forward.

They both walked inside the empty house. It was dark and no lights were on, but ever since his rebirth Mason had no trouble seeing in the dark. Everything was visible in a green tint, as if you were wearing welding goggles.

"Hey Greed!" Wrath called under his breath. Mason turned and found Wrath was wearing a toupee formerly on a stand. It was a wispy grey-brown comb over. Wrath struck on official-looking pose and crossed his arms, sending both of them laughing as loud as they dared.

"What's going on in here?" Someone croaked from the opposite side of the room. The lights were turned on; Mason covered his eyes momentarily and hissed at the sudden exposure. He slowly lowered his arm to see a wizened old wrinkle that was supposed to be a person. He was completely bald, with no smooth skin on his entire body. His skin was brown and leathery; you could barely tell where his eyes and mouth were.

"Hello there." Wrath smiled evilly, showing off his pointed teeth. "A little birdie told me that you've broken our deal."

"I-Are the demons back? It can't be! You're not real!" He spoke agonizingly slow; Mason looked towards Wrath, wondering when they could kill him already.

"Oh we are very real. You told what wasn't supposed to be told, and now you die." Wrath explained, grinning as the man shook in fear.

"It's nothing personal. Just business." Mason added grimly. Wrath touched the solid ground, morphing his arms into stone. He lengthened it into a point and reached back to kill the old man.

"Please! I promise! I-"The old man began to plead but Wrath silenced him by kicking him in the jaw.

"Torkin is something wrong?' They could hear from outside. Wrath met his eyes and sent a strong silent message, _we need to leave._

"I thought I heard something." The voice continued. Wrath quickly sent his arm through the man's chest, ending his life.

"Torkin, can you..." the voice trailed off, Mason looked over to see a blonde boy standing in the open doorway, face frozen mid-sentence. One of his hands was grey, and he wore a red overcoat overtop a black vest.

"Wrath!" Wrath cried, swinging his leg around and sending a spike of stone at the boy from the ground. The boy lengthened a sword from his sleeve and cut it in half. Mason took a step back and raised his fists. He didn't know what his power was yet, and he couldn't do alchemy, so he preferred letting Wrath handle the meddling boy

"Wrath!" The boy repeated in a curse, he pulled back his sword arm and got in a ready position.

"Edward?" a hollow, metallic voice called out. From behind the boy, a 7 foot tall person walked into view with a freaking _suit of armour_. He quickly realised he was late for the party, and took a ready position like everyone else.

"What happened brother? Where's Torkin?" the armoured man called out.

"Dead. Wrath and his new buddy killed him." The one called Edward frowned. Everyone stood on edge, the tension began to thicken until you could nearly see it. Mason lost his patience, he couldn't stand there doing nothing; plus the anticipation was killing him.

"Greed, stop!" Wrath called out, but it was too late. Mason shot forward like a bullet from a gun. He skipped sideways onto the wall, took several steps, and pushed off in the tall one's direction. He leaned back and shoved his left foot forward; he hit him squarely in the chest and easily knocked him down.

Mason quickly climbed on top on him and began to bang his fists against his helmet, making a loud _clang_ with each strike. To his left and behind him he heard the others clash, but his attention was focused only on this surprisingly light suit of armour.

He slung forward a right hook, but the man had gotten himself together and grabbed it with the corresponding hand. Left hook, same result. He began to push against the man, only being able to survive in such a situation because of his superior strength.

Alphonse looked up at the new boy who had tackled him. Even with his hair strewn around his face, and him rapidly struggling and not staying still, he looked strangely familiar. He brought up a knee and pushed the boy off, giving himself a chance to get up.

"What did you do with Mason!?" Edward demanded, stopping Wrath's stone arm in its tracks with his automail arm.

"You never even noticed? Tsk tsk, Edward." Wrath said cryptically, pushing harder against the blonde boy who limbs he bore. Edward realized with a horrific look what he meant.

"No! That can't be!" Edward screamed, but inwardly he knew it was true. Wrath pushed off of the Elric boy and did a lazy back flip before landing.

"Greed!" Wrath called out. He placed a hand on the floor and pulled out a fine spear before throwing it at his ally.

"You're kidding me!" Edward demanded, bounding back towards Wrath. "You made my cousin the new Greed!?" He felt like he was setting himself up but he couldn't stop himself from yelling it in disbelief.

"Sure did, and he's about to kill you." Edward's face scrunched in confusion, but he quickly ducked, the head of Mason's spear barely grazing his hair.

"Mason! Stop this!" Alphonse pleaded. Now that he knew who he was he wouldn't attack him, he could only deflect the spear off of his arms when it was swung at him.

"Who the hell is Mason!?" Mason demanded, spinning the spear in one hand before grasping it at thrusting it at Alphonse's neck crack. It struck true and took his helmet off, sending it skidding on the ground.

"What the!?" Mason said in disbelief, staring in shock at the empty helmet. This allowed Alphonse a split second to knock his spear out of his hands. "Hey! That's mine!"

"I'll take care of Wrath, you get Mason!" Edward ordered, sending spires consisting of several different materials towards Wrath. Alphonse grabbed Mason, wrapping his arms around him in what resembled a wrestling hold.

"What _are_ you?!" Mason demanded, wiggling around in its grip.

"I'm you COUSIN! Alphonse!" The suit of armour yelled.


End file.
